Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

I stumbled upon the Foodie Penpals site by random and found the idea to be ... well simply genius!  I knew I just had to participate.  Here's the jest of how it works:

• Sign up by a certain date
• On the 5th of the month, you get your penpal pairing
• You have 72 hours to email your penpal and swap info, ask about allergies and etc...
• Foodie package must be sent by the 15th of the month to your penpal.  The spending limit is $15 and you must include something written.
• On the last day of the month, you post a blog about what you got.

I was lucky enough to get my inaugural penpal box from Savannah. Her husband is stationed in Guam so her package was filled with local goodies that she's been enjoying.  Content of the box included: Dried Banana Chips, Dried Mango (I've been craving mango lately!), Green Tea Kit Kat (YUMS! I think there's only 5 left), Banana Ketchup (I'm so intrigued by this and can't wait to try it on something) and Calamansi - Tropical Lemon Drink (This was so refreshing & tasty!!!)

My box went to Heather, who's a vegetarian. She told me she was open to trying new things, especially local goodies... well I live where Asian food is more than readily available so I headed to the market and found a bunch of what I think are "staples" in most asian vegetarian diet.  

I can't wait for the next month... which sadly won't be till January since I totally forgot to sign up for December!!!  Booo...  If this sounds like fun to you, click to join!

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Slow Cooker Tri-tip

With a new baby in the house, making dinner meant anything I could whip up in 30 minutes or anything I can toss into a slow cooker.  I originally meant to make roast beef, but there was a great sale on tri-tip and so I decided to improvise. The result was this amazingly juicy and flavorful meat. Yum!

Slow Cooker Tri-tip

ingredients

• 3 lb Tri-tip
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 (1 oz) package dry onion soup mix
• fresh ground pepper

directions

1. Trim off a little of the fat from the meat.  

2. Mix the dry onion soup mix with soy sauce in the slow cooker

3. Place the tri-tip in and cook on low for 20 hours or until the meat is tender enough to separate with fork.

notes

The meat by itself already has a lot of flavor, but you can also use the juice it cooked in as a dip, kind of like a french dip.  Just make sure you separate the fat from the au jus.  

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Zucchini Strand Spaghetti

Zucchini Strand Spaghetti
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

ingredients

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 lb dried spaghettini
• 3/4 lb zucchini
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbs minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 Tbs coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes.
2. Grate the zucchini with food processor, into long strands. Season with salt and pepper. 
3. Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic and saute briefly until light brown. Add the red pepper flakes. Quickly mix in the basil and remove from the heat. When the pasta is al dente, drain through a colander, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
4. Pour the pasta into a warm serving bowl; add the zucchini, basil oil (optional, recipe below), the garlic mixture, and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Toss well, adding cooking water as needed to make a smooth sauce. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as needed. Grate about 2 tablespoons Parmesan over the top and serve at once.

Basil Oil (optional recipe)

For soft herbs, such as basil, parsley, cilantro or tarragon: Use 4 cups packed leaves to 2 cups pure olive oil. In a blender, puree the herbs and oil until completely smooth. Put the mixture in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer over moderate heat. Simmer for 45 seconds, then pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Don’t press on the mixture, but you can tap the strainer against your hand to get the oil to drip through faster.

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Watermelon Lemonade

As you know we have an over productive lemon tree so I'm always searching for recipes that'll help me use up some lemons. I started the day thinking I was going to make lemonade, but apparently leaving ripe lemons in the tree dries them out.  Who knew??  So I was suddenly left with a bunch of lemons with hardly any juice!!  I managed to squeeze a cup full from 7 lemons!  Good grief, how was I suppose to make a drink with 1 cup of lemon juice?  Now I don't normally post drink recipes up, but this one was so tasty, it's gotta be shared.

Watermelon Lemonade

ingredients
1 cup lemon juice
2 cups
3/4 cup simple syrup
3 cup water

directions
Stir together and served chilled.

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Zucchini Bread

We recently got a bunch of organic zucchini from my aunt.  Whenever I think of zucchini I think about this delicious zucchini bread served at our local salad place.  This isn't that recipe, but it comes fairly close.  

Zucchini Bread
(adapted from Paula Deen | makes 2 loaves)
ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cups sugar -- original recipe calls for 3 cups, but that's just asking for diabetes
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 standard loaf pans with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. 
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. 
5. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. You can also bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

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Zucchini and Red Onion Flatbread Pizza

Last week The Husband randomly came home with a bag of shrimps and flatbreads.  I made shrimp scampi from the shrimps, but now I'm left with a very large bag of flatbreads and a dilemma... "Just what do I do with so much flatbread?" Thankfully I found this recipe and was able to use up all the flatbreads. The original recipe is much fancier, I simplified it because I didn't have 40 minutes to spare. So here's my version, it's fast, easy, delicious and healthy. Definitely one for the books... er.. blog.

Zucchini and Red Onion Flatbread Pizza
(loosely adapted from epicurious)

ingredients

• vegetable spray
• 8 flatbread
• Alouette garlic-and-herb cheese spread
• parmesan cheese
• 2 red onions
• 2 long zucchini, cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
• chopped fresh Italian parsley - optional

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Lightly grease a cookie sheet with the vegetable spray, or use a silicone baking mat and place the flatbread directly on it.
3. Spread a layer of Alouette garlic-and-herb spread, then sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of the spread.
4. Layer zucchini and red onion
5. Spray the top of the vegetables with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with a some pepper
6. Bake in oven until the edges are brown, roughly 10 minutes.
7. Sprinkle some parsley.

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Smoky Corn Chowder

It must be corn season, because there's a sale for fresh corn almost every week.  As much as I love munching on the kernels off the cob, I was itching for a little variety.


Smoky Corn Chowder
(makes for 4 servings)

ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
 
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 Tbs. smoked paprika

• 1 pinch crushed red pepper

• 4 ears fresh corn, kernels removed
 
• 4 cups chicken stock

• 1 cup cream

• coarse salt and freshly ground pepper


directions

1. Heat a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy. Remove bacon from the pan and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Drain all but 1Tbs. bacon fat, if you have that much in the pot.
2. Add the onions to the pot and sauté 5 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, crushed red pepper and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté another minute.
3. Add the fresh corn to the pot and toss to combine. Sauté. 
4. Add the stock and cream to the pot. Stir to combine. Keep on a low simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.
5. With an immersion blender, place it in the pot and pulse it a few times until about half of the soup becomes creamy, still leaving whole kernels as well. If you don’t have an immersion blender, ladle about a cup and a half of the soup into a blender and pulse until creamy. Pour back into the pot and stir to combine.

variations

shrimp - Saute the shrimp in bacon fat, remove then continue with Step 2.  Garnish with shrimp.

potato - After adding the onions and sautéing, add potato and rest of Step 2.

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Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca

Another lemon recipe to add to the list.  I wasn't too sure how this dish was going to come out since I ended up straying a lot from the original recipe.  It couldn't be helped, we were missing ingredients and I needed to improvise.  The result was still a delicious meal, perfect for a hot summer day. It's a dish that taste light, but feels deceivingly heavy.  The initial bite is a punch of lemony tartness, but then you find yourself hankering for another bite.

Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca
(adapted from cooking light)
ingredients

• 4 (4oz) chicken cutlets
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Italian seasoning
• 4 strips of bacon
• 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/3 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• linguine

directions

1. In large pot, cook linguine. Drain and set aside.
2. Dice the chicken and sprinkle evenly with salt & italian seasoning
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add bacon & chicken to pan. Cook until done and then remove chicken from pan; keep warm.
4. Combine broth, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a small bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture and the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil to pan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. 
5. Combine pasta, chicken and sauce.  

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strawberry yogurt bundt

Here's another bundt cake recipe!  I bought a huge container of strawberries from Costco only to discover that they weren't very sweet.  I didn't want to drown them in sugar so I decided to bake them in a cake instead. I ended up modifying the recipe a bit, because we don't really like sweets that are TOO sweet in our household.  I think the result is a much fresher and more delicious tasting cake.  The dense sweet cake is nicely offset by the tartness of the strawberry and I ended up modifying the glaze so it had a more lemony punch.  Hmmm... I think it's time for another slice of cake for me!


Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake

ingredients | Cake

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tb lemon juice
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 8 oz. plain or vanilla, Greek yogurt
• 12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced

directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F.  Brush a 10-12 cup Bundt pan with mixture of 1 Tb flour and 1 Tb melted butter. 
2. Sift together the 2 1/4 cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. 
4. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.
5. Toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, this is to prevent the berries from sinking to the bottom. Gently mix them into the batter.
6. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

 ingredients | Glaze

• 2 Tb lemon juice
• 1 Tb buttermilk
• 2 cups confectioner sugar

directions

1. While the cake cools, whisk together together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice, confectioner sugar and buttermilk until smooth. 
2. Drizzle over the top of the cake while still warm, then drizzle again once the cake has cool.

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lemon bundt cake

We have a lemon tree in our backyard that produces lemons like crazy so I'm always on a look out for lemony recipes.  I would like to eventually make a list of 101 things to make with lemon, so far I think I only got 5. This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen and they proclaimed it to be "the best" lemon bundt cake.  The problem they were addressing with this recipe is...  lemon bundt cake tend to lack the lemon flavor and a lot of people try to compensate for it by adding more zest; more zest, however, can make the cake taste a bit... bitter. I think ATK really got this recipe right.

Lemon Bundt Cake
(adapted from ATK)

ingredient: Cake

• 3 lemons , zest grated and saved, then juiced for 3 tablespoons juice
• 3 cups flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 eggs , at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk , at room temperature
• 2 1/4 sticks (18 Tbs) unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Brush 12-cup Bundt pan with mixture of 1 Tb flour and 1 Tb melted butter. 
3. Mince lemon zest to fine paste, combine zest and lemon juice in small bowl; set aside to soften, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine lemon juice mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk in medium bowl. In small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine. 
5. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. 
6. Reduce to medium speed and add half of eggs, mixing until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with remaining eggs; scrape down bowl again.
7.  Reduce to low speed; add about one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of buttermilk mixture, mixing until just incorporated after each addition. Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining buttermilk mixture. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. 
8. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incorporate any remaining flour. Scrape into prepared pan.
9. Bake until top is golden brown and wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. 

ingredient: Glaze

• 2 - 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice 
• 1 Tb buttermilk
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar

directions

1. While cake is baking, whisk 2 Tbs lemon juice, buttermilk, and confectioners' sugar until smooth, adding more lemon juice gradually as needed until glaze is thick but still pourable (mixture should leave faint trail across bottom of mixing bowl when drizzled from whisk). 
2. Cool cake in pan on wire rack set over baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake directly onto rack. 
3. Pour half of glaze over warm cake and let cool for 1 hour; pour remaining glaze evenly over top of cake and continue to cool to room temperature, at least 2 hours. Cut into slices and serve.  

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pasta with pancetta and miso

I've always been intrigued by the use of miso in other cuisine other than Japanese.  For the most part, every dish I learned that used miso was from my mom, whether it be a simple broth or as a glaze for salmon.  Needless to say when I stumbled upon this recipe, I was more than eager to give it a try. I didn't have parsley or the pasta the recipe asked for, but luckily I had everything else, the result was still a delicious and super easy dish to make.  Next time though, I plan on being more adventurous and add more ingredients... like sweet corn!

Pasta with Pancetta and Miso
(adapted from bon appetit)

ingredients

• 3 Tbs unsalted butter
• 2 oz pancetta cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 lb gemelli (braided pasta) or fusilli (spiral-shaped pasta)
• 2 Tbs miso
• 2 Tbs flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus more
• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, torn

directions

1. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet; add pancetta. Cook until pancetta is rendered and beginning to brown, 4–5 minutes. 
2. Add onion; cook until onion is soft and pancetta is crisp, 3–4 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
4. Add reserved cooking liquid and miso to skillet; bring to a simmer. 
5. Add pasta; simmer, tossing constantly, until sauce is glossy and coats pasta, 1–2 minutes. 
6. Add parsley and pepper. Toss to coat. 
7. Garnish with mozzarella and additional chopped flat-leaf parsley.

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cranberry scones

A good scones recipe is so hard to find!  I've tried some where the result was a hard crumbling mess in your mouth.  This recipe came from my friend Michelle, she brought it over one day and after the first bite I knew I wanted the recipe. The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup of currant, but since I had a Costco bag of cranberries, I opted for that.


Cranberry Scones

ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking power
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 Tbs unsalted butter, frozen
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 egg

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. In food processor, put in flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda and salt. Pulse to blend
3. Slice frozen butter into 8 Tbs. Put into food processor. Pulse until consistency resemble coarse meal.
4. Add cranberries, pulse to mix.
5. Add sour cream, pulse to mix.
6. Add egg. Pulse. Dough should stick together and look like a lumpy ball. Try not to over do it.
7. Grab handfuls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

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Chantal's New York Cheesecake

I've tried numerous cheesecake recipes and for some reason The Husband really liked this one.  It doesn't have a strong "cheese" taste, in fact it's a bit denser like a cake.  I just like how simple it was to make. Supposedly this is the recipe from the famous Chantal's deli in New York. I personally thought 1.5 cups of sugar was a bit sweet and even thought I left it in the oven, the cake still cracked.  I think next time I'll try 1 cup of sugar and cook the cake in a water bath.

Chantal's New York Cheesecake
ingredients | crust

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

ingredients | cake

• 4 (8 oz) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

 directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

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Shrimp Scampi with Linguini

Sometimes it astonishes me how much a dish cost to make versus order at a restaurant. This recipe is simple, but tasty especially if you get the right shrimp.

Shrimp Scampi with Linquini

ingredients

• 1lb linguini
• 4 Tb butter
• 4 Tb extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves

directions

1. For the pasta, put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. When it has come to the boil, add a couple of tablespoons of salt and the linguini. Stir to make sure the pasta separates; cover. When the water returns to a boil, cook for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the pasta is not quite done. Drain the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. 
3. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper; add them to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan; set aside and keep warm. 
4. Add wine and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil. When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan along with the parsley and cooked pasta. Stir well and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over a bit more olive oil and serve immediately.

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Spinach Lasagna Rolls

I can't remember why I bought ricotta cheese, but it was about to expire and I was in dire need of a quick recipe where ricotta cheese was used abundantly.  I've made lasagna before but always felt they were quite labor intensive, it was probably my fault for taking on the more challenging recipes. This recipe will definitely be making a reappearance on our dinner table.  Quick, easy and delicious.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls
(adapted from the-girl-who-ate-everything.com)

ingredients

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 1 (10oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 1 (15oz) container fat free ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried italian seasoning
• salt and pepper
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
• 9 Tb mozzarella cheese, shredded

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Make sure you drain the spinach well. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, Italian seasonings, chicken, and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.
2. Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry by patting them with a paper towel. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over a noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.
3. Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 Tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.
    

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strawberry cream cake

One of my favorite cakes to make although a laborious one, however ever since I got my second Kitchenaid mixing bowl the process has been much less painful.  What I like about this cake is the absence of butter and oil.  The sponge-like cake fluffs up purely by the power of the egg whites, granted 5 whole eggs are used in this recipe.  I suppose we sacrifice the fat for the cholesterol. The cream is creme fraiche and heavy cream so I usually only make half the amount it ask for... who needs that much cream when you got so many yummy strawberries?

Strawberry Cream Cake
(adapted from William Sonoma)

ingredients | for the cake:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 5 Tbs. boiling water
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Grated zest of 2 lemons

ingredients | for the strawberry cream filling:

• 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 4 to 6 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 1 cups crème fraîche
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 

directions | to make the cake:

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together the egg yolks and sugar on high speed until thick. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the boiling water. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Increase the speed to high and whip again until thick. Stir in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Reduce the speed to low and stir in the flour mixture.
4. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites on medium-low speed until frothy. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until thick and smooth; the mixture should not look dry. 
5. Fold half of the whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining whites.
6. Gently spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. 
7. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan and remove the ring. Invert the cake and remove the base of the pan. Carefully peel off the parchment. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool completely. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into 2 layers.

directions | to make the filling:

1. To make the filling, place the 2 cups strawberries in a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and 2 Tbs. of the granulated sugar.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the crème fraîche, cream, vanilla and the remaining 2 Tbs. granulated sugar. Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form and the cream holds its shape.
3. Place 1 cake layer on a cake stand or serving plate. Arrange one-third of the strawberries and their juices over the cake. Spread one-third of the cream over the berries. Repeat the layering process with the remaining 2 cake layers, berries and cream, ending with a layer of cream.

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Baked Pasta with Sausage and Tomatoes

I was looking for another quick dinner solution and stumbled upon this.  Yums!

Baked Pasta with Sausage and Tomatoes
ingredients

• 1 (1 lb) package uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)
• 1 lb hot turkey Italian sausage links
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta, and set aside.
3. Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Combine cooked pasta, sausage mixture, and basil. Place half of the pasta mixture in a 4-quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Top with half of mozzarella and half of Parmesan. Repeat. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

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Roast Chicken Chimichangas

I got out of work later than I anticipated and needed to make dinner fast. These were easier to make than enchiladas and took me only 30 minutes to get dinner ready.  Although what I like most about them is that it isn't fried.  Yum yum!

Roast Chicken Chimichangas

ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups shredded roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup monterey jack cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 (4.5-oz) can chopped green chiles, drained
• 1 (16 oz) can fat-free refried beans 
• 6 (8-inch) flour tortillas 
• Cooking spray 
• Bottled green salsa

directions

1. Preheat oven to 500°.
2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; toss well.
3. Spread 1/4 cup beans down center of each tortilla. Top each tortilla with 2/3 cup chicken mixture; roll up. Place rolls, seam sides down, on a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat tops of chimichangas with cooking spray. Bake at 500° for 7 minutes. Serve with salsa.

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